


Be Careful

by dixid



Category: Haven - Fandom
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-20
Updated: 2010-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-13 22:05:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/142202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dixid/pseuds/dixid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a good reason behind the old adage "Be careful what you wish for".  A wish in troubled hands can cause a great deal of mischief.   But perhaps some good as well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Be Careful

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Maekala](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maekala/gifts).



Audrey’s first impression of Haven, even as odd as it had been with the giant crack in the asphalt swallowing her rental car, hadn’t truly prepared her for life in the strange small town. Having grown up in an orphanage back in Ohio, she had been known a certain lack of privacy, but it didn’t compare to the fishbowl that was her life in Haven.

Caught between being more than a summer tourist but not quite a local, she sometimes felt her life was providing more entertainment for the local gossips than the single screen movie theater the town boasted. Particularly when certain gossips took her banter with Duke and embellished it, making it seem more lewd than the friendly interaction it was. Of course those same gossip mavens swore she and Nathan were carrying on romantic trysts under cover of darkness when in fact they were on a stakeout. Sometimes it was enough to make a woman wish she was invisible.

As it turns out, making a wish like that in a town like Haven is a bad idea. Especially when you say it out loud in the presence of a troubled person who can inadvertently grant your wish. It’s even worse when the wish also encompasses the two men who only moments before were giving the patrons of the Grey Gull another full volume installation of “As Haven Turns“.

One second Nathan and Duke were discussing the latest round of troubles, each emphatic that their chosen course of action was the only correct path to the solution, the next second there were audible gasps from the bar’s customers as the three of them blinked out of sight.

“What just happened?” asked Audrey. “Why can’t I see you?”

She could still hear their voices, each loudly blaming the other for their current predicament, but the spots they were occupying a moment ago were empty.

As she reached for her service gun, she suddenly realized she also couldn’t see her own hand or the gun.

“Great, we’re invisible apparently.”

“Transparently, you mean,” sounded Duke. His voice was slightly to her left, closer than where he’d been standing a minute before.

A exasperated groan came from her right, “Can’t you ever be serious?” Nathan sounded like he hadn’t moved from his original spot. Audrey realized that without being able to see his body Nathan would be more vulnerable to an injury he wouldn’t be able to feel. Unable to see where to placing his feet, unable to feel his footing, he’d be running a risk of serious injury if he moved without a guide. Or two guides.

She knew Nathan could feel her touch, so perhaps she could keep him from coming to harm before they figured out how to reverse this spontaneous invisibility.

Quickly she worked to formulate a plan to keep Nathan safe while keeping Duke out of trouble. She knew that even though Nathan and Duke loved to bicker, they really didn’t hate each other. Vince and Dave were convinced that they were just too competitive, but Audrey thought it was more likely to be unresolved sexual tension. She’d kept that opinion to herself, as the gossip mill didn’t need more fodder.

“Nathan, hold your arms out at shoulder level, not directly in front of you, but not to your sides either. Duke, you and I are going to walk toward Nathan. When we reach him we are going to lead him over to the back deck so we can sit down while we discuss what to do next.

For all of his bad boy ways, Duke always caught on quick, and he took direction well. As Nathan quietly endured being led to a table on the covered deck without even a minimum of fuss, Audrey realized how much she’d gown used to reading his expressions to gauge his state of mind. He seemed quieter than normal, but she couldn’t tell if it was because he was upset because he’d needed their help. Perhaps it was just her imagination. For his part, Duke didn’t make any snide comments about Nathan needing help because of his condition. He’d be the first to tease and give Nathan grief, but he always came through when they needed him. Another reason, thought Audrey, that she was more likely correct than the Teague Brothers.

They settled themselves around a table screened from view of the main areas of the restaurant. Not that the patrons of the Grey Gull could actually see them. Although most locals wouldn’t be too alarmed by the lack of visibility, it wouldn’t do to have to explain to any tourists why there were glasses and forks full of pie moving through the air of their own accord.

The waitress, a local who was one of Duke’s regular servers, simply rolled her eyes and shook her head at their predicament. “Only you three would turn invisible in the middle of a parking lot with no one else around. This is what happens when you chase after the troubles. At least we can still hear you. ”

As she came back with their drink orders and dessert she shrugged, “Maybe it’ll just wear off on its own.”

Not quite as confident of their chances that this condition was temporary, the trio tried to work out the exact conditions that had been present when they’d been struck with invisibility. With the “what, when and where” of the equation already filled in, they focused on who had been in the immediate area. Finding no apparent suspects amongst the Grey Gull’s patrons, they turned their attention to “why” they might have been targeted.

As an epiphany struck Audrey she groaned, “I think I know why this happened,” explaining that she’d wished to be invisible to escape the endless soap opera her life had become in Haven.

“To summarize“, said Duke, “you made a wish without realizing it would become true, and now we’re invisible.”

“Maybe?” Even to her own ears Audrey thought that sounded slightly crazy.

“Well then, we just need to find the vengeance demon who granted the wish and destroy their necklace, that should set things right again.”

“What?” “What are you talking about?” Both Nathan and Audrey sounded confused.

“Not Buffy fans then, I guess?” asked Duke. “Well, it worked for them when Cordeila made a wish that Buffy had never come to Sunnydale. Guess we‘ll have to come up with a different plan.”

After hearing that they weren’t fans of the show, Duke excused himself from the table to retrieve his laptop from the office.

“Doesn’t the constant gossiping bother you?” Audrey asked.

“That’s just life in a small town“, replied Nathan. “How many times have we caught a break in a case because of gossip? Seems hypocritical to take advantage of the system and then turn around and complain about it. Just try not to do anything you wouldn’t want the whole town to know about.”

“You mean like wishing for invisibility?” asked Audrey.

**Author's Note:**

> For those who aren't addicted to IMDB, the actor who plays Duke was also in the first episode of Buffy. He portrayed Jesse, the other best friend of Willow and Xander. I couldn't resist the reference.


End file.
